


Christmas with the Agrestes

by siderealSandman



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Christmas fic, F/M, Holidays, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 03:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9053512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siderealSandman/pseuds/siderealSandman
Summary: Three months after the disappearance of Hawkmoth, Marinette threw a party.It was, ostensibly, to celebrate the upcoming holiday season, but Marinette had never put so much effort into a Christmas celebration before. To be fair, she had good reason to want to make the first akuma-free Christmas since she was thirteen one to remember. For the first time, she could enjoy the holidays with her family, friends, and new husband without the looming threat of Hawkmoth’s yearly yuletide temper tantrums.The butterfly Miraculous was safe back in Master Fu’s hands, Nooroo was having Christmas with Plagg and Tikki, and all was as it should have been. Marinette had filled her new home with family, friends, and enough food to feed them all. She could not have asked for a better Christmas……except for the fact that her husband had been missing since that morning.





	

Three months after the arrest of Hawkmoth, Marinette threw a party.

 

It was, ostensibly, to celebrate the upcoming holiday season, but Marinette had never put so much effort into a Christmas celebration before. To be fair, she had good reason to want to make the first akuma-free Christmas since she was thirteen one to remember. For the first time, she could enjoy the holidays with her family, friends, and new husband without the looming threat of Hawkmoth’s yearly yuletide temper tantrums.

 

The butterfly Miraculous was safe back in Master Fu’s hands, Nooroo was having Christmas with Plagg and Tikki, and all was as it should have been. Marinette had filled her new home with family, friends, and enough food to feed them all. She could not have asked for a better Christmas…

 

…except for the fact that her husband had been missing since that morning.

 

* * *

 

“He should be here by now,” Chloe huffed, wearing a tread in Marinette’s new kitchen floor as the party carried on in the living room. The pile of cookies that Marinette had spent most of the morning baking and frosting shrank every time Chloe passed in a flurry of crumbs. “It’s almost seven; where the hell is your husband?”

 

“He said he had a few errands to run today,” Marinette said, taking a long sip from her glass as she glanced out the window for the hundredth time that night. “You know how crazy things get towards the holidays, right?”

 

“Not stay out ‘til seven on a freezing, snowy night crazy,” Chloe huffed, fishing her phone out of her pocket. “I’m calling Ladybug.”

 

“You don’t have Ladybug’s number,” Marinette scoffed, reaching into her pocket and turning her cell phone off on the off chance Chloe had somehow managed to doxx her.

 

“Daddy can get a hold of her,” Chloe insisted, popping another cookie in her mouth as she jumped up onto the counter.

 

“You want to share those with the rest of the party?” Marinette asked, tugging the dwindling cookie plate away from Chloe.

 

“No,” Chloe said through a mouthful of sugar. “Why would I?”

 

Marinette sighed through her nose, taking a deep breath. “Because, shocking as this may be, I didn’t just make those cookies for y-”

 

A sudden flash of black interrupted the snowy white scene outside as a figure leapt across a circle of flooded light and landed somewhere outside the window. Another flash of black and Marinette dimly heard the sound of footsteps on the balcony above them, followed by the sound of a door quietly opening.

 

Marinette realized she must’ve been frowning in concentration because Chloe slowly lowered a purloined cookie back on top of the plate, raising her hands and sliding off the counter. “Alright, alright, I’ll take them out,” Chloe sniffed, picking up the plate and edging her way towards the door. “No need to give me the evil- _hey_!”

 

Chloe nearly dropped her plate of cookies when Marinette brushed past her, barreling through the door and nearly knocking over Alya as she tried to get into the kitchen.

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Alya said, holding reaching out and gently holding Marinette by the shoulders. “What’s the rush?”

 

“Sorry,” Marinette said, trying to slide by Alya. “Have to get up-”

 

“Is that champagne?” Alya said, glaring at the wine glass in Marinette’s hand. “Are you drinking champagne right n-”

 

“What? No!” Marinette said, offering her glass for inspection. “Apple cider; stole it from the kids table.”

 

Alya leaned in, taking a suspicious sniff before offering Marinette an approving nod. “You really shouldn’t be rushing around when-”

 

“I’m fine,” Marinette insisted, waving Alya off as Chloe brushed past them into the living room, trailing a small stream of cookies behind her. “Just forgot something upstairs.”

 

“In your bedroom?” Alya asked. “I can get it for you if you wa-”

 

“I’m _fine_!” Marinette insisted, pushing Alya towards the kitchen.

 

“Are you sure?” Alya asked. “If you need something, just-”

 

“I _need you_ to have a nice time,” Marinette said. “Maybe take a bottle of red out to the drinks table if you’re feeling generous.”

 

With one last shove through the swinging kitchen doors, Marinette turned and tried to make her way towards the staircase as quickly as possible. For once, Marinette was glad that she and Adrien hadn’t gotten around to furniture shopping since they moved in because it was going to take every square inch of floor space to accommodate all of her family and friends. She could barely hear over the din of laughing, talking, and muffled Vince Guaraldi, smiling and checking in with every guest that caught her eye as she wound her way upstairs.

 

By contrast, the upper floor of their house got quieter and colder the farther she moved away from the fireplace in the living room. They had elected not to run the heater for fear of turning the house into a sauna, but Marinette found herself shivering a little as she reached for the doorknob to her bedroom.

 

Pushing it open with a barely audible click, she saw a dark figure sitting on her bed, back to the door and facing the balcony where he had stolen in a few minutes earlier. Outside, she could hear the wind pick up as the drifts of snow piled up on the balcony, barely muffling the carefully controlled breaths and stifled hiccups coming from the figure on the bed. Marinette quietly shut the door behind her, locking it as the figure on the bed whipped around, green eyes glowing in the dark as Marinette pressed herself against the door. He tensed for the briefest moment until he saw who it was, deflating a little as Marinette crossed the room to the gas powered fireplace across from the bed.

 

“Cold out there, isn’t it?” Marinette said lightly, rubbing her arms as she lit a burning blue fire that cast a warm light on the black-clad figure sitting on her bed.

 

“No kidding,” Chat Noir snorted, leaning back with a long, shaky sigh. She noticed the streaks on his face as the fire grew brighter, but chose not to comment on it as she stood up, smoothing her jeans out as she turned to face him.

 

“You’re lucky Alya didn’t duck up here for some quiet time,” Marinette chuckled, crossing the room as her husband resumed staring out the window. “If she caught you snooping around my bedroom, she would have killed you and wrote a scathing article about you; in that order, if you were lucky.”

 

“You of all people know how good my luck is,” Chat Noir chuckled bitterly, brushing something off the bed next to him as Marinette approached. I would have lived long enough to see the papers read ‘Chat Noir: Home Wrecking Floozy’ before Alya killed me.”

 

“Chat Noir’s exit would have been memorable at the very least,” Marinette said, pausing as her foot crunched on something unexpectedly. She lifted her heel up, stomach clenching as she saw that she had stepped on the gift Adrien had left with earlier that day—unopened, and crumpled beneath her feet. Sighing more out of resignation than exasperation, she gingerly bent down, picking the battered, snow-soaked present up off the ground before sitting beside her husband. “…What happened?”

 

“Didn’t want to see me,” Chat mumbled, hands clenching as he stared off into space. “Went as soon as visiting hours opened…waited for a few hours in case he changed his mind. Eventually…eventually, the guards just said it was time to go. He didn’t want any visitors today…”

 

Marinette’s fingers trailed down the smooth, black fabric that clung to Adrien’s arm, prying his clenched fist open and twining her fingers through his. There was no anger or sadness left in his expression; just exhaustion and bitter defeat. She didn’t need to ask where he had been; the remnants of the snowstorm still lingered on his shoulders and melted into his hair. And even after running around the city for who knew how long, he still wasn’t quite ready to face her.

 

As happy as she was that Hawkmoth had been defeated, victory hadn’t come without a terrible cost for her husband.

 

“I thought…heh, I don’t know what I thought,” Chat said, peeling the wrapping paper back enough to expose a bit of the framed picture beneath it. In the dim, flickering light, Marinette could see the gap-toothed smile of a sandy haired child wearing a ruffled Santa Claus hat that was a few sizes too big. On either side of him were two, serenely smiling parents dressed in ski wear, hands raised to block out the sun behind the cameraman. Chat’s eyes drifted between the frame and Marinette’s gaze, pushing the wrapping paper back to bring the whole image into view.

 

“It’s funny, but…the only Christmas I remember is probably our most screwed up one,” Chat said, fingers tracing his mother’s smile with a far off look in his eyes. “We were supposed to cross the Alps to spend time with Mom’s family in Switzerland…but the snow beat us there. Worst storm in years, they said; no way we were getting through.”

 

“Well…you know how well Father takes no for an answer,” Chat chuckled, eyes floating over to the tightly smiling man on the other side of the child. “Up ‘til three, trying to make flights, ‘my wife is going to see her damned family or I am personally going to hold you responsible!’ kind of stuff…hellbent on getting us to Montreux by Christmas morning. Didn’t happen, of course; we spent Christmas eating greasy sausage and potatoes in the hotel restaurant, just the three of us.”

 

The memory brought a smile, unbidden to his lips as he stared at the frame for a long moment.

 

“Father insisted that he was miserable but…” Adrien cleared his throat. “As long as Mom was happy, he at least tried to be. For her sake.”

 

The sight of her husband’s smile slowly fading into bitter, mournful pout caused Marinette to squeeze his hand all the tighter.

 

“He did… _everything_ for her sake,” Chat said, laying the picture on the bed beside him. “I…when I think about all he’s done over the years…all the people he’s hurt, all the lives he’s ruined just to get at our Miraculouses…all in the hope he could somehow manage to bring her back.”

 

 _He was obsessed_ , Marinette privately thought to herself as the pad of her thumb traced the back of Chat’s gloves. Gabriel loved his wife with a single-minded obsession that caused him to hang larger than life portraits of her looking serenely sad, as though he was commissioning her silent apology for leaving him. She never doubted that Gabriel loved his family, but it was a blind, toxic, and ultimately self-destructive love that sought to possess Adrien and his mother. Were it not for the fact that Adrien now had to spend Christmas without either parent, she would have fully reveled in the fact that the former super villain was finally in prison where he belonged.

 

“Guess we both have a tendency to hope after the impossible,” Chat laughed bitterly, sighing as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand. “It was stupid to even go today, wasn’t it?”

 

“Stupid to want to see your father on Christmas?” Marinette shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

 

“Isn’t it?” Chat said, shaking his head. “After all he’s done to us, after all he’s done to our _friends_ …I still show up like an _idiot_ to hand deliver him a Christmas present in jail. How is it not stupid, and sad, a-and pathetic that I spend all day trying to get five minutes with a man who…”

 

“Adrien,” Marinette said, cupping his cheeks and forcing his wide, panicked eyes to look at her. “Adrien, take off the mask.”

 

Chat took a deep, shaky breath, quickly mumbling something under his breath as the magically grafted suit vanished, giving way to a simple black turtleneck and jeans he had left the house in earlier that day. Plagg shot her a worried glance, floating off to the dollhouse he shared with Tikki on their dresser as Marinette crawled into Adrien’s lap.

 

“I just-” Adrien’s line of thought ended as Marinette pressed his head into her chest with a long, low _shhh_ that filled the dimly lit room like a puff of warm steam. She could feel his lips quiver and jaw tense as she slowly breathed in and out, hands twining through his hair and running down his back as Adrien struggled to reign in his breathing. As betrayed as Adrien was to find out that his father had been the evil he had struggled against since he was fourteen, the knowledge that Adrien had been a driving force keeping him from his ambition had been the final straw for Gabriel. Marinette wasn’t surprised that Adrien’s peace offering would get such a chilly response. She was just disappointed that Adrien had to constantly display more class and maturity than his fifty-five-year-old father.

 

It wasn’t right; it wasn’t fair. Her family could fill their townhouse ten times over and still have to stand in the street. And while _technically_ they were Adrien’s family as well…it wasn’t the same. And it wasn’t fair that Adrien had to all but grovel for the last shred of familial connection available to him.

 

Even behind bars, her father-in-law found creative ways of being an absolute dick.

 

“Listen,” Marinette said, pulling back and thumbing away a few tears from Adrien’s cheeks. “You are not and never will be pathetic. Not for this; not because you decided to try and make your father’s Christmas a little brighter.”

 

Adrien looked away, pouting through his lingering tears as Marinette’s hands rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“And you’re not pathetic for missing your father,” Marinette said. “No matter what he’s done, he’s still your family. If he wants to pretend like he isn’t, it’s more his loss than yours.”

 

A loud spike of laughter floated up the stairs, piercing the silence as Adrien sniffled a little, staring holes into Marinette’s red and green Christmas sweater.

 

“People love you,” Marinette murmured into the top of his head. “I love you. My family loves you. And I know we’re never going to replace the family you lost; I know, in spite of everything, you wish your father was here with us now.”

 

Adrien opened his mouth to protest, gaping for a long moment before closing it with a sigh, forehead pressing against her collarbone.

 

“Why…” Adrien asked in a small, quiet voice. “Can’t I just hate him?”

 

The question lingered in the air for a long moment as Adrien looked back up at her, as though waiting for an answer.

 

“By all rights, I…I should want nothing to do with him,” Adrien said, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “But I do…and it hurts, and I don’t know why…”

 

“Because you’re you,” Marinette said with a warm, loving smile that seemed to melt the lingering snow in Adrien’s hair. “Sweet, kind, caring you.”

 

“I wish I wasn’t sometimes,” Adrien chuckled, leaning back on his hands on the bedspread.

 

“I don’t,” Marinette said, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss against his lips. “Because that’s the man I fell in love with…or men rather.”

 

“You have to admit, Chat has his redeeming qualities,” Adrien said, lopsided grin stretching across his face.

 

“Thankfully, I never had to choose between the two of you,” Marinette said, slowly standing up.

 

“Lucky you.”

 

“I think we both lucked out in a lot of ways,” Marinette said, glancing around their bedroom with a small sigh. “Could be worse?”

 

“Could be a lot worse,” Adrien said, slowly standing up and wrapping his arms around his wife in a warm embrace. “Thank you for…for just being you, I guess.”

 

“You okay?” Marinette asked, glancing up at him.

 

“I will be,” Adrien sighed, shaking his head. “Sorry for dumping this on you…”

 

“I seem to remember saying something along the lines of, ‘For better or for worse,’” Marinette said, lightly nudging him with her hip. “Chloe is going to kill you for making her worry though.”

 

“Can’t we just stay up here then?” Adrien asked, hooking his fingers in Marinette’s belt loops and tugging her closer. “Have our own little holiday fun?”

 

“That sounds like a lovely way to end the night,” Marinette said. “But…I think we should entertain our guests before we entertain each other.”

 

“If you say so,” Adrien said, checking his reflection in the mirror over the fireplace with a small sigh, fixing his windswept hair and straightening his shirt. “Shall we?”

 

“After you,” Marinette said, watching him take a few steps towards the door before an impulse seized her. “Hey…”

 

“Hm?” Adrien turned around as Marinette rose up, tugging him down by his lapels and kissing him fiercely on the lips. She let it linger long enough to gather her thoughts before pulling back, cupping the sides of his face as he looked down at her, still a little dazed. No matter how many times she kissed him, he never seemed to lose the wonder, like he still couldn’t believe that he could kiss her anytime he wanted to.

 

“This,” Marinette said in her most serious, junior fashion executive voice as she locked eyes with her husband. “Is going to be the last crappy Christmas you ever have.”

 

“It’s not crappy,” Adrien said, cupping and kissing the back of her right hand. “…anymore. It’s only been kinda crappy.”

 

“Then this is going to be the last kinda crappy Christmas you ever have,” Marinette laughed, tweaking his nose slightly. “I mean it. From here on in, it’s gonna be a never-ending stream of yuletide bliss. Your dad…your dad is going to come around sooner or later and even if he doesn’t…this is still going to be the last Christmas you spend crying alone in your bedroom.”

 

Adrien blinked down at her fierce, warm expression, a small bubble of laughter escaping his throat as he leaned down, returning the kiss and tugging her close. “Okay…I’ll hold you to that.”

 

“Hey, I’ve never let you down before, have I?” Marinette chuckled.

 

“No…” Adrien said, warm smile tugging at his lips. “No, you never have.”

 

There it is, Marinette thought as she looked up into her husband’s eyes. The implicit level of trust that he had always had for her;, even before he knew who she was.

 

“We’ll do something fun next year,” Marinette nodded confidently. “Maybe the three of us can track down that inn you stayed at all those years ago?”

 

“I don’t think my father is going to get paroled for a Christmas vacation,” Adrien snorted.

 

“That’s…not who I meant,” Marinette said, biting her lip as she looked up at him.

 

“You want to bring Alya along then?” Adrien asked, frowning as he tried to decipher Marinette’s shy smile.

 

“Not Alya; just you…me…and…” Marinette took a deep breath, pressing the flat of Adrien’s hand against her stomach. “…Whoever this is.”

 

It took Adrien a full moment to realize what she meant, eyes bobbing between her face and his hand pressed against the soft fabric of her sweater with a dumbstruck look on his face.

 

“You’re…are you-” Adrien stammered out, blinking rapidly as Marinette tried to read his expression. “How…how long have you…”

 

“I went to the doctor on Monday,” Marinette said, hands closing over his. “I…I told Alya first because I…kinda wanted it to be something of a Christmas surprise…”

 

Adrien was surprised; there was no doubt about that. He looked like he had been clobbered over the head with a hammer and, for the barest hint of a moment, Marinette worried that he was unhappy, that his visit to his father had given him second thoughts about the whole affair.

 

“Adrien…are you o-eek!” Marinette let out a surprised yelp as she suddenly found herself lifted off her feet, twirled in the air as she felt Adrien laughing into her shoulder.

 

“I’m gonna be…we’re gonna be…ohmygod I shouldn’t be squeezing you,” Adrien panted, putting Marinette down and smoothing her sweater almost compulsively.

 

“I’m fine,” Marinette huffed, batting his patting hands away. “Alya already wants to put me in a bubble; I don’t need it from you too.”

 

“Nope, sorry; I’m renting a belt sander and filing down anything resembling a sharp edge tomorrow,” Adrien practically whooped, cheeks straining as he kept looking Marinette up and down. “I…is this really happening?”

 

“Yeah,” Marinette said breathlessly, biting her lip. “Are you…I mean, I know we talked about this, but are you sure you’re ready for th-”

 

The weight of Adrien’s lips against hers snatched her breath away, his fingers twining in hers with a soft squeeze that made it abundantly clear where he stood.

 

“We’re gonna be parents,” Adrien giggled against her mouth. “ _Parents_!”

 

“That is what having a kid entails,” Marinette laughed, nuzzling her forehead against his. “You…are going to be a great dad.”

 

“I’m sure as hell going to try,” Adrien said, wiping the back of his eyes with his hands. “Oh god…who else knows?”

 

“No one,” Marinette said, shaking her head. “I was going to tell you and then make the announcement, but…if you want to do the honors then-”

 

“Can I?” Adrien said, sounding for all the world like a kid on Christmas. “I mean, with you of course, but-”

 

“I don’t think you can hold it in any longer,” Marinette said, shooing him away with the back of her hand. “Go on.”

 

“But-”

 

“I have to do something; I’ll be down in a second,” Marinette insisted, opening the door and gently pushing Adrien out. “Go, go!”

 

“Wait!” Adrien said, sticking his head back in the door. “I forgot something!”

 

“What is it this ti- _mmph_!” Marinette tensed as Adrien stole a quick kiss.

 

“That,” Adrien said, cheeky grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he slipped out of the room. “Don’t be long.”

 

“Dork,” Marinette giggled, shutting the door as Adrien practically skipped down the hall. Letting out a small sigh, she made her way over to the bed, slowly unwrapping the picture and tossing the wrapping paper in the garbage can beside the bed. For a long moment, she stared at it, studying the smiling faces beaming up at her, wondering how a handful of years could have changed the little family so much. Mother gone, father gone mad, and son…somehow grew to be the best friend, partner, and man Marinette had ever known.

 

She wondered who she had to thank for that, if it was all Adrien or if Gabriel somehow managed to impart moral fiber in spite of his lack of parental effort. Marinette was the person she was because of the people in her life, the family and friends that beamed at her from the rows of picture frames on the dresser in the corner. For a moment, Marinette’s eyes wandered from one picture to another, from her first birthday with her parents, to her graduation ceremony, to her wedding. She knew that she would need another shelf to accommodate the memories to come, the birthdays, and Christmases, and vacations she would have with the family she'll make with Adrien. But, for now, she placed the picture of Adrien and his parents at the end of the dresser next to baby Marinette and her parents; it stood as a reminder of where they came from and how far they had come together.

 

Satisfied, Marinette turned to leave the room when the muffled music and distant voices beneath her slowly died down into silence. Marinette pressed her ear against the bedroom door, closing her eyes as she imagined Adrien standing in front of their family and friends, ushering everyone into one room so he could make an announcement.

 

There was silence for a moment…then Adrien’s voice shouted something she couldn’t quite make out, and the entire house erupted in a single, joyous cheer.

**Author's Note:**

> Secret Santa for Escurochi on tumblr! Hoped you enjoyed!


End file.
